Fantastic Voyage

Celebrating Raquel Welch, 5th September 1940 to 15th February 2023.

Cliched I know but as a small boy I fell in love with Raquel Welch after watching Fantastic Voyage and One Million Years B.C. on TV, although I thought Fathom was complete bobbins.

 

With the sad news of her passing, I immediately thought of Neon Neon, the late Noughties duo of Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) and Bryan Hollon (Boom Bip) and their titular tribute, Raquel, from 2008.

 

The song originally appeared on their debut album, Stainless Style, itself a concept piece about the life of John Delorean, who is best known for designing this car (time travel function not as standard).

 

Depending on which unreliable online source you Google search in 0.41 seconds, Raquel allegedly dated or at least had "an encounter" with Delorean circa 1972 and this was enough to inspire this admittedly great pop song into the album. I bought the promo CDS at the time with a radio edit and instrumental version but sadly no remixes.

 

There wasn't an official video for Raquel, but a montage clip was commissioned for projection at their live shows. There's a YouTube clip of a Neon Neon concert which demonstrates this, but shuffle76 has gone one better and posted the whole video for our viewing delight.

Raquel did commit some of her own recordings to vinyl in the early 1970s and - who knew? - a one-off single in 1987, predating by a couple of years Liza Minnelli's similar foray into Hi NRG ably assisted by Pet Shop Boys but with much less success. I've watched the video so that you don't have to.

Instead, here's Raquel performing at a USO (United Service Organisations) show in the late 1960s with a cover of Mike Nesmith's song Different Drum. The soldiers look suitably enraptured by Raquel's singular take on the song. All I'll say is...it's one minute forty seven seconds long.

Not my favourite actor by any stretch of the mark, but Raquel Welch held a special place in my heart when I was a wee lad and I continued to admire her empowered, 'can do' approach to her life and career choices, even if I didn't particularly follow her film, TV, music or fitness video work.

 

As Gruff Rhys sang back in 2008, "Oh Raquel, you really got the power".

 

Rest easy, Raquel.

On The Soul...De La, That Is

A tribute to David Jude Jolicoeur aka Plug 2 aka Trugoy The Dove aka one third of hip hop legends De La Soul, 21st September 1968 to 12th February 2023.

Another sad loss, all the more tragic that Trugoy was 54 years old, barely any time in the scheme of things. But what he achieved in his life cannot be underestimated. 

 

I can't pretend that I was so on it as a teenager that I immediately switched on to hip hop and rap music and got 3 Feet High And Rising as soon as it hit the record shops in 1989. But I really liked De La Soul. Over three decades later, their impact on music as a whole - not just genres - is perhaps only just beginning to be fully appreciated. After many years of legal entanglements, the release of De La Soul's early albums on streaming services next month will bring their music to a new generation.

I'm definitely not qualified to write about De La Soul's influence or Trugoy The Dove's contribution to establishing a new narrative and form of expression, but I can share a selection of songs that I love. In my usual cobbled-together-at-the-last minute style, this 10-track selection mostly draws from the earlier singles, throwing in a few songs from a budget De La Soul compilation I picked up a while ago. 

 

I also had to include their contribution to the Judgement Night film soundtrack, itself made up of collaborations between rap and hip hop artists and guitar bands, be it indie, thrash or grunge. Teenage Fanclub were the unlikely partners with De La Soul, but somehow it works. 

Gorillaz took it to it's logical next step in the 21st Century. Where else would you see De La Soul performing on stage with Damon Albarn, Gruff Rhys, Mick Jones and Paul Simonon?

Rap in power, Dave, Plug 2, Trugoy, all of you.

 

1) Eye Know (7" Mix By Prince Paul): De La Soul (1989)

2) Oooh (Rae & Christian Remix): De La Soul ft. Redman (2000)

3) Superfast Jellyfish: Gorillaz ft. De La Soul & Gruff Rhys (2010)

4) The Magic Number (1-2-3 Mix By Chad Jackson): De La Soul (1989)

5) It's A New Thing (It's Your Thing) (D-Nat & Onda Reconstruction): The Isley Brothers ft. De La Soul (2004)

6) Me Myself And I (Extended Version By Richie Rich): De La Soul (1989)

7) Long Island Degrees: De La Soul (1995)

8) A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturdays" (Radio Home Mix By David Morales): De La Soul ft. Vinia Mojica (1991)

9) Fallin' (Faded Album Version): Teenage Fanclub & De La Soul (1994)

10) All Good?: De La Soul ft. Chaka Khan (2000)

 

On The Soul...De La, That Is (44:20) (Box) (Mega)

You're Only In A Mess

I haven't heard Gruff Rhys' latest album Seeking New Gods, which came out in May, but I was emailed a link for the Loan Your Loneliness (Edits) EP a couple of days ago. The lead song is a chugging cracker, and the accompanying video is a delight, with giant reptiles, woolly mammoths and Gruff evoking the appearance of 1980s Bob Dylan, albeit with a double-headed electic guitar. Predominantly monochrome with the odd splash of colour to begin, the video explodes into full colour during the extended wig out in the song's latter half. Wonderful.

Loan Your Loneliness (Album Version): Gruff Rhys (2021)

 

The EP, which is available on Gruff Rhys' Bandcamp page, contains two other edits. The Luke Abbott Version retains the spirit of the original, stripping out some of the layers and extending the song to nearly eight minutes. The Don Leisure Remix kicks off with a bossanova rhythm before layered vocals, sci-fi FX and looped drums keep things rolling for a crisp three minutes.

A quick search of YouTube also reveals a lovely version, performed at Rockfield Studios, as well as a snippet from his gig at Future Yard in Birkenhead, if you needed proof that it sounds equally wonderful live.

Loan Your Loneliness (Live @ Rockfield Studios, 17 June 2021): Gruff Rhys

Loan Your Loneliness (Live@ Future Yard, Birkenhead, 27 August 2021): Gruff Rhys

Bad Santa (2016)

1) A Visit! (Part 1): Santa Claus
2) Here Comes Santa Claus: Ramsey Lewis Trio
3) Christmas Rappin’: Kurtis Blow
4) The Little Drummer Boy: The Salsoul Orchestra
5) Post Apocalypse Christmas: Gruff Rhys
6) What Can You Get A Wookiee For Christmas (When He Already Owns A Comb?): Meco
7) Yellin’ At The Christmas Tree: Billy Idol
8) I Hate Christmas: Oscar The Grouch
9) Santa Claus: They Might Be Giants
10) Don’t Lose My Funky Sledge: TBC Poundsystem
11) Dear Santa (Bring Me A Man This Christmas): The Weather Girls
12) Kung-Fu Christmas: National Lampoon
13) Just Like Christmas: Low
14) Holiday ID: Randy Travis
15) I Wish It Was Christmas Today: Julian Casablancas
16) I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas: Gayla Peevey
17) Christmas Wrapping: Kylie Minogue & Iggy Pop
18) Disco Santa Claus: Raindolls
19) Come On! Let’s Boogey To The Elf Dance!: Sufjan Stevens
20) Christmas Music: Daniel Johnson*
21) Christmas Day (I Wish I Was Surfing): Emmy The Great & Tim Wheeler
22) Hey Santa!: Hannah Peel & Tunng
23) Jingle Bell Rock: Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
24) Christmas Medley: Pee Wee Herman
25) Christmas On The Block: Go Home Productions
26) Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy: David Bowie & Bing Crosby 

 

Bad Santa (2016) (55:30) (KF) (Mega) 

 

 

* Not to be confused with or misspelled as Daniel Johnston, which I have been doing for the last 8 years!